Spiders in Space: Researchers Observe Arachnid Habits in a Microgravity Environment

Scheduled to launch with STS-134, the spider habitat will transfer from the space shuttle Endeavour to the space station. Once aboard, the crew will place the two habitats into the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus or CGBA. This equipment will maintain a consistent temperature, humidity and lighting cycle for the spiders and their sustenance supply of fruit flies. The CGBA also controls imaging for the investigation.

The spider pair currently planned for investigation with CSI-05 are both golden orb spiders (Nephila clavipes), which spin a three dimensional, asymmetric web. This is different from the two orb spiders (Larinioides patagiatus and Metepeira) that launched to the space station on STS-126, which were selected specifically for the symmetry of their web formation. Scientists are looking to see if and how the arachnids will spin their webs differently in microgravity. The results will help them to understand the behavioral role of gravity for the spiders and their fruit fly companions.

"I think people can relate to everyday insects and they can understand why the experiment is of interest," said Stefanie Countryman, coordinator for CSI-05. "Plus, the visual aspects of this experiment make it very appealing to the general public."

When a sequel does top the original, in science as in movies, it usually has something to do with lessons learned during the first production. The CSI-03 investigation, for instance, was unfortunately restricted to eight days, due to the spiders' fruit flies food 'sliming' the observation window. This obscured the view inside the habitat and limited the study. For CSI-05, which is funded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute or NSBRI and the NASA National Lab Education Office, the fruit flies will have a separate compartment from the spiders. The crew will slowly introduce the flies -- approximately every four days -- into the two individual spider habitats, which should allow for clear imagery through the viewing window for the full 45-day duration of the investigation.

The fruit flies are not, however, simply nourishment for the spiders. They are actually a secondary study themselves. Scientists plan to look at their mobility over time to see if and how they react to the microgravity environment. They should be able to observe growth, behavioral and flight patterns as the flies develop.

There also is an important education element to this investigation, sponsored by Baylor College of medicine Center for Educational Outreach and Orion's Quest. While the N. clavipes is spinning in space, students on Earth will develop and observe their own spider habitats. Teachers can use a curriculum found on bioedonline.org. This Web site includes daily images sent from the space station to the BioServe Payload Operations and Control Center. This allows students to compare their spiders' spinning habits to those of the spiders in microgravity in near real time. Orion's Quest Web site -- orionsquest.org -- will focus on the habits of the fruit flies in space.

Black plants 'could grow' on exoplanets with two suns

Plants on distant hospitable planets could have developed black foliage and flowers to survive, according to a new study.

Flora that would appear black or grey to human eyes could have evolved on planets orbiting dim "red dwarf" stars, according to unpublished research that is being presented at the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno, Wales.

This would enable plants to absorb more light to photosynthesise, using their star's light to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds.

Jack O'Malley-James, a PhD student and astrobiologist at St Andrews University, focused on multiple star systems thought to be common throughout the universe.

He used models for star systems with two or three stars with various combinations of Sun-like and red dwarf stars. He then added planets to these models, orbiting around one or more of the stars.
Exotic plantlife

The research presumes first that plant life similar to that on Earth could evolve on an exoplanet in the "habitable zone" around its star - which is not a given, but the odds of which are difficult to estimate.

The idea then is that photosynthesis there would resemble that seen on our own planet, whereby plants use energy from the Sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and organic compounds, such as sugars.

Flora on those planets would have to adapt to very different light conditions in order to photosynthesise.

"If a planet were found in a system with two or more stars, there would potentially be multiple sources of energy available to drive photosynthesis," said O'Malley-James.

"The temperature of a star determines its colour and, hence, the colour of light used for photosynthesis. Depending on the colours of their starlight, plants would evolve very differently."
with planets thought to be close in mass to our Earth

If a planet's light source comes primarily from a red dwarf, then O'Malley-James believes any possible plant life could be black or grey - but there are other outcomes which are more exotic still.

One possible scenario is a hospitable planet that receives light from both a red dwarf and a more distant Sun-like star.

This could lead to two tiers of plantlife populating the same planet - plants using light from the Sun-like star which may be brighter in colour, and a second, darker array of plants using light from the red dwarf.

"Plants with dim red dwarf suns, for example, may appear black to our eyes, absorbing across the entire visible wavelength range in order to use as much of the available light as possible," said Mr O'Malley-James.

"They may also be able to use infrared or ultraviolet radiation to drive photosynthesis. For planets orbiting two stars like our own, harmful radiation from intense stellar flares could lead to plants that develop their own UV-blocking sun-screens," he said.

Mr O'Malley-James's work is being supervised by Dr Jane Greaves of St Andrews, Professor John Raven of the University of Dundee and by Professor Charles Cockell of the Open University.

NASA's Next Generation Space Telescope Marks Key Milestone

The X-ray and Cryogenic Facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. will provide the space-like environment to help engineers measure how well the telescope will image infrared sources once in orbit.

Each mirror segment measures approximately 4.3 feet (1.3 meters) in diameter to form the 21.3 foot (6.5 meters), hexagonal telescope mirror assembly critical for infrared observations. Each of the 18 hexagonal-shaped mirror assemblies weighs approximately 88 pounds (40 kilograms). The mirrors are made of a light and strong metal called beryllium, and coated with a microscopically thin coat of gold to enabling the mirror to efficiently collect light.

"The six flight mirrors sitting ready for cryogenic acceptance tests have been carefully polished to their exact prescriptions," said Helen Cole, project manager for Webb activities at Marshall. "It's taken the entire mirror development team, including all the partners, over eight years of fabrication, polishing and cryogenic testing to get to this point."

During cryogenic testing, the mirrors are subjected to extreme temperatures dipping to minus 415 degrees Fahrenheit (-248C) in a 7,600 cubic-foot (approximately 215 cubic meter) helium-cooled vacuum chamber. This permits engineers to measure in extreme detail how the shape of the mirror changes as it cools. This simulates the actual processes each mirror will undergo as it changes shape over a range of operational temperatures in space.

"This final cryotest is expected to confirm the exacting processes that have resulted in flight mirrors manufactured to tolerances as tight as 20 nanometers, or less than one millionth of an inch," said Scott Texter, Webb Optical Telescope element manager at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, Calif.

A second set of six mirror assemblies will arrive at Marshall in July to begin testing, and the final set of six will arrive during the fall.

The Webb Telescope is NASA's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope designed, Webb will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the very first galaxies ever formed and help identify unexplored planets around distant stars. The telescope will orbit approximately one million miles from Earth.

"The Webb telescope continues to make good technological progress," said Rick Howard, JWST Program Director in Washington. "We're currently developing a new baseline cost and schedule to ensure the success of the program."

The telescope is a combined project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor under NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., is responsible for mirror development. L-3- Tinsley Laboratories Inc. in Richmond, Calif. is responsible for mirror grinding and polishing.

For more information about the James Webb Space Telescope, visit: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov

Where Will the Debris from Japan's Tsunami Drift in the Ocean?

The debris first spreads out eastward from the Japan Coast in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In a year, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument will see pieces washing up on its shores; in two years, the remaining Hawaiian islands will see some effects; in three years, the plume will reach the US West Coast, dumping debris on Californian beaches and the beaches of British Columbia, Alaska, and Baja California. The debris will then drift into the famous North Pacific Garbage Patch, where it will wander around and break into smaller and smaller pieces. In five years, Hawaii shores can expect to see another barrage of debris that is stronger and longer-lasting than the first one. Much of the debris leaving the North Pacific Garbage Patch ends up on Hawaii's reefs and beaches.

These model projections will help to guide clean-up and tracking operations. Tracking will be important in determining what happens to different materials in the tsunami debris, for example, how the composition of the debris plume changes with time, and how the winds and currents separate objects drifting at different speeds.

Even before the tsunami, the World Ocean was a dump for rubbish flowing in from rivers, washed off beaches, and jettisoned from oil and gas platforms and from fishing, tourist, and merchant vessels. Marine debris has become a serious problem for marine ecosystems, fisheries, and shipping. The presentations given at the recent week-long 5th International Marine Debris Conference in Hawaii, at which Maximenko had organized a day-long workshop, are a testimony to the magnitude of the ocean debris problem. The massive, concentrated debris launched by the devastating tsunami is now magnifying the hazards.

Maximenko's long-standing work on ocean currents and transports predicted that there are five major regions in the World Ocean where debris collects if it is not washed up on shores or sinks to the ocean bottom, deteriorates, or is ingested by marine organisms. These regions turn out to be "garbage patches." The North Pacific Garbage Patch has become famous, the North Atlantic Patch was fixed some years ago, and the South Atlantic, South Indian Ocean, and South Pacific patches have just been found, guided by the map of his model that shows where floating marine debris should collect.